Viral Creed
by ani-cat-candy
Summary: Based off a short story I'd wrote about zombies- It's more of a test as I'm not sure where it's going after chapter 5 or so - I'm going to need input from readers!
1. Chapter 1

Viral Creed

NOTE: Yes, Again I use my own character. Don't like it, don't read it. I own nothing but her and her story.

This was based off of a short story I wrote and will post for you at some point... My nephew gave me the idea to turn it into this crossover. It's more of a test than an actual story as I have no idea where it's really going.

Also, no, I don't speak any language other than English. Everything else is provided by Google Translate blame them for any errors, please.

On with the story!

* * *

How could I have let him talk me into this? I was cold, hungry, and cramping like there's no tomorrow, yet this jackass - oh, I just had to agree to a date with him- had insisted we go exploring the catacombs. "It'll be romantic" he said.

Yea, wandering through dank old tunnels beneath Rome was SO romantic. Especially when running into spiderwebs, tripping over broken floor tiles, slipping and sliding across slime patches... so romantic.

Our art class was on a trip through Euroup for some 'inspiration' and the hottest guy in class asked me out on the flight over. How could I say no?

I honestly thought he was talking to the pretty girl behind me - she thought so too- "Not you, Blondie, I'm talkin' to freckles, here."

A frightened squeak echoed through the tunnels as hands slapped desperately at another cobweb. "Calm down, it's just a web. Why did you suggest the catacombs if you were so scared?" I plucked the sticky strings out of his hair as he stood there cringing.

Yea, it was fun for the first hour or so, disappearing behind corners to jump out and scare him every chance I could, then the idiot stepped on a rat skeleton, freaked out and took off running like a chicken, not watching where he was going and getting us lost.

I swear, if this scardy cat doesn't man up or shut up soon, I'm leaving his ass here with the 'ghosts'. No, I haven't seen a single one, yet. If I had, I would have ask for directions, but no such luck.

"You know you'd be less likely to trip and hurt yourself if you'd stop clinging to my back and watch where you're going." I tried hard not to growl at him for pulling me down with his clumsy ass. All he could do was whimper and scramble to keep up. I wasn't slowing down or waiting on him.

I spun around as I heard another yelp, ready to start telling him off, then noticed he was holding his ankle, crying. I checked it over for the baby and, sure enough, the idiot twisted it. "Don't worry, I won't say it." Although I did tell him so. Multiple times.

A bit of movement caught my eye and I looked up in time to see a bit of cloth disappear around a corner. I pulled the massive baby up and led him in that direction, letting him lean his ungodly weight on me to keep it off his ankle.

As we rounded the corner we found ourselves in a small, dry room. It was much warmer than the rest of the tunnels. I eased my 'date' to sit on the floor just as he noticed someone else in the room, screamed in my ear and scrambled back into the wall, causing a large portion of the celing to collaps and block the only exit.

I suppose the dead-pan look I gave my 'date' made it quite clear to our room mate just how done I was with his shit.

The hearty laugh was a very welcome change to the constant wimpering and squeeling I'd grown accustomed to over the past few hours.

"Mi dispiace, che non dovrei ridere." {I'm sorry, I shouldn't be laughing at that.} He calmed himself, looking us both over as I waited for my ear to stop ringing. "Che ci fai quaggiu, comungue?" {What are you doing down here, anyway?}

My 'date' was scared silent (thank God), while I had to take a moment to mentally translate the best I could, "Mi dispiace, signore... No Italiano... Englesh?" I asked hopefully and was happy to see him give a smile and nod.

"Si, signora, I speak a little English." He gave another look between us, "Is he alright?"

I had to laugh at his expression, it was priceless. Big, bad, Mr. Muscles was white as a sheet, mouth hanging open in a silent scream and eyes the size of dinner plates. "Yea, he's fine. Just scared of the spooky ghosts hiding in the shadows. I'm Cat, by the way. This is Jake."

"Buorngiorno, signora e signor." He gave an amused smile and bowed politely, "I am La Volpe."

He was quite handsome, in a country-boy kind of way, and wore a striped tunic with tights under a long, hooded cloak. "What brings you to Roma- oh!" He gave a sheepish look after realizing what he'd stumbled over was an old, dried up corps. "I-I don't seem to remember that being there before... Mi dispiace... I do hope that doesn't bother you much. It's not uncommon to find them down here..."

I shrugged it off and found a place to settle in, "Nah, doesn't bother me any. Besides, whatever it takes to keep him quiet..."

"What?" Jake finally snapped out of his fright-induced coma for a moment as Volpe gave another laugh. I moved closer to the corps, just to gross him out a bit more, causing him to swallow thickly to avoid throwing up.

"Just sit there quietly and look pretty. Maybe he'll decide not to eat you." I teased before returning my attention to Volpe. "We're art students. Our class is touring Europ in hopes the ancient cities and such will give us some inspiration... I'm honestly just taking whatever excuse I can find to avoid the family reunion."

"I see." He had such a bright smile as he settled in next to me. "Do you need a guide, perhaps? I would be happy to show you the city."

"Aw! That's so sweet of you to offer. I'd love that."

Jake decided to ruin our fun by puting two and two together and screaming, "Are you talking to a ghost?!"

Volpe gave him , then me an odd look as Jake began hyperventilating, rambling about wishing he'd never taken some bet. "Are you sure he's alright?"

"Not for long." I replied darkly. If looks could kill, that asshole would be UNDER hell. "That's why you asked me out? Because of a bet?" Both boys jumped and backed away a bit. Not that I was raising my voice or anything, quite the opposite, actually.

"Ask the creepy girl out on a spooky date? was that the prise for losing or was the bet over wether or not YOU could scare ME?" I held my cool as always. I spoke in a casual manner that, coupled with the look I had leveled on him, I knew would have him shitting bricks.

This, you see, is why I have no friends. My preferred genre in art is horror and no one wants to get close to someone who can come up with such morbid scenes. Not even the goths. Rumors float around the school about me preforming demonic rituals and conversing with spirits of the damned to get my ideas and talent... I can confirm it's partially true. I do get many ideas from the spirits I converse with. I think what scares them the most is that I look like the kind of girl that would be doodling happy butterflies and rainbows, a super girly-girl that dresses in a modest style of sweet lolita, then I talk about methods of death and torture like it's cupcaks and nyan-cat.

I could see Volpe shutter from the corner of my eye as he gave the jackass a look of sympathy mixed with gratefulness to not be my target.

"How about you keep your mouth shut- unless you're on fire- and I'll pretend I never heard that. Deal?" I received a stiff nod, then turned my attention back to my new friend. Sadly, he'd have to find out sooner or later, I just hoped he wouldn't leave me alone with this ass.

"I'm sorry, La Volpe, but don't you otice anything strange?" He gave me a confused look for a moment as he thought, looking around the room he noticed our clothes and the light source.

"What do you mean? What sort of things should I be noticing?" He tried to play it off but I could hear the tension raising in his voice.

"This is honestly the worst part about being able to see spirits... Running into the ones that don't realize they're dead." He tried to laugh it off as I gave a look toward the corps that wore a ragged version of his same outfit.

His eyes darted between me and the corps for a moment as he tried to hold his smile, his humorless laugh dying off as he stood and backed away, shaking his head in denial. "No... No, I'm not... No... No, nononononononon NO! I'm not dead!" He shouted, pressing himself against the far wall, eyes widening as memories of his own death returned.

He was tricked. Led into a trap by one of his own men. he was outnumbered... Someone was thrown into a wall and it caused a piece of the celing to come down... He began shaking, tears leaking down his face as he clutched his stomach, remembering the pain of hunger as he lay there, trapped by a piece of debris. They must have thought the piece that knocked him out had killed him- he wished it did- this was worse. The seemingly endless hours of screming, crying, begging to be forgiven and released. Regretting every mistake he'd made and every opportunity he'd allowed to pass him by. He remembered it all.

He tried to hold it back, but a sob tore itself from his throat as he slid to his knees, staring at his ow shrivled and dried up corps.

That's where the detail and emotion in my work comes from. The moment a spirit realises the truth, the moment they remember an event, I see it. I feel it. As if the memories were my own.

People- living people- see me as emotionless or heartless. I don't give much reaction to events around me. They don't realize how trivial their issues are when one has experienced dying in so many ways. The fear of a spider or the urgency of a broken bone is nothing when you've seen your own sibling smile as they hold a gun to your head, the bodies of the rest of your family splayed about the house.

They have no idea. Even the spirits don't realize how much of it I experience or how vividly.

I can't stop the tears from falling any more than Volpe can. Gathering myself together, I move to embrace the poor guy in a hug that he willingly accepts. I can't really feel his arms around me or the wetness of his tears on my shoulder. It's more like a memory of what it should feel like. If I could feel it, he'd be crushing me with his desperate grip.

It's unusual for spirits to remain after the realization. Some have to come to terms with it before they move on and a rare few will remain. Their reasons as diverse as their deaths.

Jake apparently got board and fell asleep while I did my best to comfort Volpe's spirit. Nearly an hour passed before he seemingly ran out of tears, though he continued to let me hold him. He mumbled softly into my shoulder, asking what the current year was then returned to quietly fiddling with the end of my braid as he thought. If there's one thing I've learned, it's to never rush a spirit.

"Nearly five hundrend years..." I'd began to doze off. It had to be well past midnight and I was still suffering from jet-lag. "And I didn't notice the passing of a single day."

"Time is an illusion of the physical world. It's like you closed a book and opened one that is set in another era."

A small nod of understanding was felt against my shoulder before he sat up on his own again, wiping away the dried trails left by his tears. His eyes were so red, so lost.

"What now? Must I leave?"

"Not if you don't want to. It's your choice."

A soft smile graced his lips once more, "Then I must make good on my promise to show you the city." He tried to move a stray piece of hair from my face but it seemed he'd worn himself out too much to interact with the physical world much more. "You should rest. I will figure a way to get you and Jake out of here." He sighed, looking over the mess that blocked out exit.

Everything will be alright, Volpe." I gave him a hug and kiss to the cheek before making myself as comfortable as I could, the memory-like feeling of his fingers running through my hair easing me into a gentle slumber.

* * *

Long first chapter- sorry

Hope y'all liked it and next chapter is coming up very soon!


	2. Chapter 2

Viral Creed

Once again: I own nothing except my own character.

On with the show!

* * *

Jake woke with a start, remembering where he was, that there where ghosts around and that he was trapped in a room with a crazy bitch talking to them. It was pitch black, so there was no telling what time it was... or what was possibly lurking around him.

"Cat" His voice came out as a scared wheaze. "Cat!" He tried again with slightly better results.

"What?"

"Are you awake?"

"No. I'm answering you in my sleep." One could practically hear my eyes rolling at the question.

An odd noise startled us. We both jumped, but he screamed like a little girl. I took my phone out of my pocket and turned on the flashlight to look around. Sounded like someone trying not to laugh.

Nothing different from what I could tell. "La Volpe? Are you still here?"

"Oh, dear God I hope not!" Jake squeaked, covering up another noise.

"You realize that he knows the way out of these catacombs, right? So shut up and pray he hasn't moved on and left us to follow."

Sounded like a strained moan, then something brushed against my arm. I shone my light toward it and found nothing but the hand of Volpe's corps. I was beginning to think maybe I'd laid closer to it than I'd originally thought, then it moved, reaching for me as there was another groan.

"Oh my God! ZOMBIE!"

"I shone the light up to his face as Jake began freaking out again. Sure enough a set of eyes, very much alive , were looking back at me from the withered skull. I set the phone aside so the light reflected around to light up the room a bit more.

"Well, this is a first." I noted as I moved closer to Volpes' corps. He was trying to move, trying to speak, but it seemed rigor mortis was still in effect. All he could do was take shallow breaths and look at me with frightened eyes. "It's alright, Volpe. Try to relax. Everything will be alright."

I cupped his face gently, trying my best to comfort him. His skin felt like tissue paper that would tear with the slightest touch. It was quite interesting to see how alert he was and how his eyes were able to dart about seemingly unhindered whilst he struggled to even breath.

I was so happy when Jake fainted. Dear God, he's annoying. "That pretty face truly is his only asset."

I received a snort of laughter in reply and tried to play it off like I'd meant to say that aloud.

Slowly, little by little Volpe was able to move. A sharp gasp of pain came out when he moved too quickly and tore the paper-like skin.

0

I'm surprised at how long Jake was out. By the time he'd come back to, sunlight was making its way through a crack in the celing, lighting up the room quite a bit and Volpe was able to move enough I could help him sit up.

Jake saw him sitting up and decided to play panic-y hero, grabbing at a stone while shouting, "Cat! Get away from that thing! It's going to eat your brains!"

"And you plan on doing what, exactly?" I asked, eyeing the manner in which he couldn't pick up the stone.

He stopped, tired. "Was going to... smash its skull in...?" An embarrassed smile showed he had good intentions.

"Maybe he'd have a chance to if his leg wasn't caught." I motioned toward the debris that had caused the untimely death. "Maybe you could impress me with those big muscules and get him out?"

"Why would I do that?"

"What's more impressive? Someone playing hero by killing something that can't defend itself- metaphorically speaking" I added as I received a dirty look from Volpe. "Or saving the princess from something that is actually, possibly dangerous?"

Volpe continued giving me an incredulous look at the reference to myself as a princess, while Jake tried to show off by lifting the heavy rock enough for me to slide the man from beneath it.

"What?" I asked as the look continued... Perhaps it was because I'd equated him to some kind of small helpless animal? "Hey, what better way to get a muscle-headed pretty-boy to help, that to appeal to his overinflated ego?"

He gave a thoughtful shrug and sounded to be saying "true" as Jake objected before heading to a corner of the room.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I gotta take a piss."

I gasped in mock horror, "And leave your scent for the monsters to follow you home?"

That stopped him- I don't want to be stuck in there with that damn smell.

"Maybe you should clean up that mess you made. The sooner we get out, the sooner you can go pee without the monsters coming after you."

Volpe shook his head as the moron quickly zipped up his pants and began clearing the exit. He shot me a look that I interpreted as "I can't believe that worked / I'm so proud of you"

"Whoa..." The new location I'd dragged him to and the angle of his head had the light reflecting the vibrant color perfectly. "Your eyes are amazing." They were a beautiful violet- my new favorite color.

0

Jake was too chicken shit to go near Volpe, and the man was still having trouble moving, so I carried him on my back as he pointed us the way out. I was really surprised by how light he was, being so much taller than me. Then again, I had to remind myself that he was nothing but skin and bones- quite literally. Thankfully he'd loosend up enough to talk properly.

Jake took off as soon as we reached civilization. I have no idea where he went and I really don't care. Thankfully, night had fallen again, making it easier to get to the hotel unnoticed.

Volpe was fascinated by the cars and lights. The city had changed more than he could have ever imagined.

"Mind if I ask how old you were?" It was something that had been eating away at me all day. His spirit looked to be in mid to late fourties.

"Thirty seven. You are?"

"Guess." I giggled. I do so love knowing how old people think I look.

"Fifteen?"

"Twenty-five"

"No."

"Si! Are you from here or...?"

"Si... Oh! Mi amico, Lorenzo lived there. He was a blacksmith... Not the best quality but he turned out pieces quickly. And Ercole, he was terrible with the violini. He would always play this corner and the shopkeepers would pay him just to STOP playing." He chuckled at the memories. "Stella and Salvaza, twins, would play the best pranks on the guard. Rob them blind and leave them so confused they did not remember which is up."

When the hotel came into view, he pointed toward it, "I lived in this building here... This is where you're staying?"

"Sure is. I'll run and get us some food after you've settled in, alright?" I entered through a side door and pulled out a keycard.

"What's that?" He asked as I put it in the door.

"It's the key."

"This was my appartment." He told me as I set him on the bed. He looked around as though he wasn't sure if he was happy to see how things have changed or sad that it did change.

I gave him the tv remote and showed him the basics before washing up a bit and heading back out.

0

I returned from gathering food to find Volpe flipping through the tv channels. His head snapped up the moment he smelled food, a large smile across his face.

"Sorry, not much was open."

"Bene, bene!" He happily took the offered bag, eagerly digging out the contents to inspect. "So long as it's food, I will be happy."

"Just don't eat too fast. I don't want you choking and dying on me or anything."

He chuckled around a mouth full of frenchfries before cringing at how salty they were.

I drew him a bath while he ate, finding my food half-gone by the time I returned and pretended to be upset. I'm glad he had such a good sense of humor, though he was a bit shy about me helping him to the bath. His muscles were so atrophied, he could barely hold himself to sit up.

He took one quick look at himself in the mirror and made it a point not to look again.

"The way things seem to be going, I'm sure you'll fill out and be back to your handsome old self in no time." I tried to reassure him, but his smile was only halfhearted, as if he knew I was lying and only telling him what he wanted to hear. I left him to bath in peace while I finished what he'd left of my meal and decided not to say anything about the quiet sobs that came from the bathroom.

There was no way I was letting him back into his old clothes. They were filthy and torn and falling apart. No. Not happening. No clothing stores were open at that hour, so he just had to make due with a pair of my lazy pants... that fell right off his thin hips.

He gave me a look as I helped him adjust the waistband. "Hey, you'd be laughing too if it were someone else." He was trying hard to stay mad, but was no match for the softness of the bed and was out before his head hit the pillow.

0

He woke the next morning to find himself alone. It was around noon, but who really cares when you've just come back from the dead?

I returned as quickly as I could to find him pouting at me playfully, "You left me!"

"You needed clothes." I pulled out a pair of pants and threw them at him. He was happy to find they had a drawstring and insisted I turn around so he could change.

"I can do it on my own, thank you. I just needed a good night's rest to move about."

"Alright, if you say so. I was just offering." I turned on the tv to find News on every station.

"E la storia piu alto di oggi: New York City: Manhattan Island e stalo oggetto di attacchi terroristici e di quarantena e stata posta a tutti gli effitti. Il terrorista testa si dice che sia uno di Alex J. Mercer..." The reporter prattled on, only catching my attention at the name.

"Volpe, what are they saying?"

He finished tieing the drawstring on his pants, "Eh... That some Alex J. Mercer has been suspect of terror attacking an island and they have placed the island under quarrantine." He translated for me. "Is there something wrong, signora?"

"I have family there." I told him half truthfully, sitting at the edge of the bed. My phone dinged a text allert, causing Volpe to jump and hiss in pain.

"Dio! I think I just reopened that wound from yesterday... What was that noise?" He craddled his side, applying pressure to the reopened wound.

I read the text quickly, a small smile pulling at my lips as I dug out some bandages. "I just received a message is all. Here, let's get that fixed up."

"A message? What did it say? If you don't mind my asking."

"That my assistance is needed on a project... If you don't mind my heading off for a bit." I tightly wrapped the gause around- I wasn't going to dare use adhesive bandages on his fragile skin. "There you go."

"Grazie. It is alright, just don't be too long, please?" He gave me a puppy look and batted those big pretty eyes, playfully.

"Alright, fine!" I laughed, "I won't be more than a few hours."

0

If Volpe thought I meant some kind of innocent art project, that's not my fault. I never said what KIND of project.

I ducked into a tight ally, clutching my package firmly.

Poor guy's got enough to deal with, being a zombie and all, he doesn't need to get mixed up in this.

I ran som more and found myself back in the catacombs - perfect!

Just have to wait to make sure I wasn't being followed any more, then I opened the package to find a black vial marked "Blacklight"

The next few hours were going to be excruciating, but well worth it.


End file.
